They Call Me Knuckles
by Snodin
Summary: I had no idea that this was in the spanish category. It's been fixed now, my apologies. Anyway, this is my quasi-retelling of "Sonic 3 and Knuckles."


"Are you a hedgehog?"

"No."

"…Porcupine?"

"No."

"…Spiny anteater?"

"Look kid, I'm an echidna, alright?"

"Oh…. What's an echidna?"

"Me! I'M an echidna- Ow!"

"I told you to be still," warned the blue hedgehog tending my wounds, as I winced in pain. I just cringed in reply.

Here I was, a defeated and humiliated shadow of my former self, lying on my back while that treacherous human had just made off with the Master Emerald. And now these two, these furry intruders I waged war on not but five minutes earlier, are coming to my aid after Robotnik zapped me with his… zappy thingies. Perfect. This was just perfect. If my ancestors could see me now…. _Augh._

THEY CALL ME KNUCKLES

By Snodin

"Sonic The Hedgehog" and characters are by SEGA

**Hidden Palace Zone**

This was supposed to be a secret place, one that only I was allowed access to, where I could keep the sacred emeralds safe. But all that changed when these weird characters showed up- one a morbidly obese human with machines at his beck and call, the others a wily blue hedgehog and annoying tag-along fox friend. The human, Robotnik, swore to me that he was a friend and that the others were here to steal the precious emeralds, including the biggest and most powerful of all: The Master Emerald. So, how else could I react? I laid dozens of traps for them, and when they each failed, I was forced to slug it out with them one-on-one. But that _damn hedgehog_… he was too fast. He got the upper-hand, just in time for Robotnik to seize the emerald right from under my nose. Desperate, I tried to stop him… but…

"Ow! Could you make those bandages even tighter?" I groaned.

"Sorry," frowned Sonic. "I never had to do this before. And technically, you deserve it."

"Hmph. None of this would've happened if you hadn't shown up. You _and_ that back-stabbing 'Eggman.'" At last, I was strong enough to sit up. I clenched my bandaged arm while the little fox looked on in curiosity.

"…Does it really hurt?" he peeped. I hissed impatiently at him.

"Leave him alone," Sonic hissed back. "He just wants to help."

"I don't need any more help," I growled softly as I wobbled onto my feet. "Now… where's that exit portal?" I muttered to myself.

I started to walk away- I'll admit, I wasn't exactly coordinated, as I had just healed from a major zapping- when the blue hedgehog followed after me. "Wait," he said. "If you're going after Eggman, then let us go with you."

"Forget it, spike. This is now a personal matter; that emerald is my sole responsibility!" As I said this, I had to catch a pillar on the wall or else I would have stumbled.

As I paused to catch my breath, the little fox came up to me and innocently asked, "Can all echidnas fly and break walls?" I really, really wanted to punch him at that point, but Sonic grabbed my fist before I had the chance.

"Will you give him a break? He's never seen an echidna before." And truthfully, Sonic never had seen one either.

"It's likely he never will; I'm the last of my kind." …I really don't know why that blurted out from my mouth, but there it was. The two fuzzy characters froze in shock, as I realized what I had just said to them. I sighed, "It really…. Doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," said the saddened little fox. "It's no wonder you're so grouchy all the time: you don't have a family."

"Do we have to talk about this? Right now?" I growled rather loudly. "That madman is getting away!"

"Let me handle him," insisted the hedgehog. "I can outrun him, and you still need to rest."

"…Augh, fine! …Fine. I'll show you the way."

Against my better judgment, I walked them to the exit portal, which was nothing more than a small pink orb fastened onto a metal post. In my weakened state, I raised my mittened hand to it. "There… Just jump on that thing, and it'll take you to Sky Sanctuary Zone."

"Thanks," nodded Sonic as he wasted no time in dashing toward the pink orb. Then at the last minute, he looked to his little friend. "Tails, you stay here with him."

"I can't help?"

"I just want you safe." That was the last word he got in, before the orb flashed a great white light which engulfed the hedgehog, shooting him into the next zone.

Feeling somewhat relaxed, I sat down before my knees gave in once again. Tails sat beside me, and for the longest time, we waited in silence. …But silence wasn't exactly part of Tails' quota.

"So, how'd you get those huge knuckles? Were you born with them?"

"No… they were a gift. From the Master Emerald."

"A gift? Really?"

"Look kid, it's a long story, and I just don't have the patience."

"Don't worry about the emerald; Sonic'll get it back. He always pulls through, no matter what."

"Oh, he's a real hero isn't he?" I muttered sarcastically.

"Yep," smiled the little fox. "He already saved my home Zone… What's your name, anyway?"

Hmm. I had forgotten that after all this time, not once was my name spoken. But there was a reason for that: "I have no name. It died with the rest of my tribe, a long time ago."

Tails then curled up ever closer to me, like a kitten. "Please tell me what happened. I promise I'll keep it a secret."

I wondered if humoring him would finally shut him up- geez, did that kid like to talk! How did Sonic put up with it? "…Alright," I sighed, then took a breath. "Here goes…"

_I was very young, still a hatchling perhaps, when my world fell apart. I don't exactly remember the details, but I can remember clenching onto my mother as our temple crumbled to pieces. It was an earthquake, one provoked by the Master Emerald. I do believe its wrath was brought on by my tribe's elders, those who wanted to use it as a deadly weapon in war. Perhaps they grew too arrogant and power-hungry. Whatever there reasons were, it turned on them. Within an hour, the emerald's energy gave off such a shockwave that it could have very well destroyed the whole floating island- perhaps even the world. But it didn't; instead it focused its power on us, only us, its betrayers. I can still recall some of the screams, especially my mother's, before everything went black._

_The next thing I can recall was waking up and having to push my mother's arm aside so that I could breathe. She shielded me with her own body, saving my life. I was very small as a hatchling, but still bore the dreadlocked quills on my head. My first intention was to wake my sleeping mother. I nudged her desperately._

"_Mama? …Mama, wake up. …Mama, wake up."_

_But she never did wake up. She just laid there in stone silence._

_It took me a while, but I eventually accepted the fact that I was all alone. No one else survived that blast, and even if they did, I never saw them again. So all I could do was crawl around, hoping to find new friends, until at last my eyes caught the glimpse of green light. Like a beacon, it called to me, so naturally I followed it._

_I crawled all the way up to the sitting place of the Master Emerald; it used to be housed by an open shrine, but now all of that was crushed to dust. But I wasn't afraid; I recognized it as something my people worshipped. And its glow was so soft and warm, it was very tempting to touch. So without even thinking about it, I reached out to with my tiny hands…_

_**WHOOSH!**_

_I was thrown back by a great burst of energy, which felt more like a gush of wind. I landed on my backside at the bottom of the shrine, my hands tucked in as I howled in pain. So extreme was it, that I nearly blacked out. But as quickly as the pain rushed through me, so to did it end. I caught my breath, and looked down at my hands. And there they were, those pairs of bulging, rock-hard knuckles…_

"…And that's when I learned the true power of the Master Emerald. From that day on, I swore that it would never again fall into the wrong hands."

The little fox was still for once, awestruck by my story. But then he let out a small, "Woah… cool."

"Cool?" I blinked, raising my knuckles to him. "You think these are cool? These came with a price!"

"But still, you can climb up walls, and break through rock. You're really not that much different than Sonic- what I mean is, _you're_ cool."

"…Hmm. …No one's ever called me that before."

"I like you," smiled the little fox. "My name's Miles, but my friends call me Tails."

His acceptance of me was, I must say, very surprising. And almost charming. "Well Tails, we should probably head up to Sky Sanctuary now."

"Oh, yeah! Sonic!" Tails jumped to his feet and dashed toward the exit portal. Then he stopped to look back at me. "Come on, Knuckles! We can still catch up to 'em!"

…Knuckles? Did he just call me Knuckles?

"…Hmm. …No one's ever called me_ that_ either."

I have to admit, his nickname for me was a little humorous. But it wasn't like I was about to roll over and accept it; after all, I was of noble heritage, and a name must be honorable and-

"Come on!"

Oh, right. The evil doctor had to be stopped. "Alright, I'm coming." I followed after him with no time to argue.

**Sky Sanctuary Zone- Act 2**

I couldn't tell you if I was shocked, appalled, or even happy, but the hedgehog did in fact save the day. At least he did, until his robotic counterpart, Mecha Sonic, decided to crash the party. Sonic destroyed Robotnik's base alright, but before he could retrieve the Master Emerald, Mecha Sonic intercepted it and floated it back to the last remaining part of Sky Sanctuary. But that's where I was waiting.

The launch pad had been nearly destroyed by Robotnik's Death Egg, but thankfully for me (and Mecha Sonic) there was room enough to escape the toppling of Angel Island. I could see it wobbling in the distance; my throat tightened at the thought of it falling to earth in a cataclysmic "Boom." But now that Mecha Sonic was here with the emerald, it was time for me to finally redeem myself.

The mechanical hedgehog planted the emerald at the edge of the launch pad, as if taunting me to come get it. As I charged, he jumped onto the emerald and charged himself to a whole new level of power- it was enough to turn him gold, like Super Sonic. But I wasn't deterred; I charged anyway, head on. He shot ring-like orbs at me, but he was slow- far slower than his furry counterpart. I dodged them with ease, and when his power level dropped, I wasted no time in pummeling him with as many punches as I could. Mind you, I was still slightly dazed from the electric shock of earlier, so I wasn't exactly at my best during this battle. But fortunately for me, it was a quick battle.

**KABOOM!**

Mecha Sonic had completely underestimated both me and the Master Emerald, and soon his power caved in on itself. It was enough to shatter not only his body, but the launch pad on which we rumbled. It all happened so fast that I can't remember reacting to the explosion. All I know is, one minute I was falling and in the next, I was steadily hovering in the air. Why? Because that "damn hedgehog" caught me with his biplane.

For a moment we just stared at each other, like that first moment when we met and shared blows on the beach of Angel Island. Whatever animosity we had left for each other, we let it all out in that stare.

"You dropped something," he then nodded with a smile.

I looked back, and there was the Master Emerald behind me; it too was saved by the biplane. I touched it with my spiky hand in contentment. "Remind me to superglue this thing back on the island."

"Whatever you say, Knuckles… That_ is_ your name, right?"

Ah, it seemed that Tails did indeed catch up with him, and let him in on the nickname. At this point, I was no longer offended by it, rather I was flattered with it. "That's what they call me."

My new friends left that day, but they would be back. And with them would come new adventures, some of which I wouldn't be too crazy about. But I am proud now to call them my friends, despite their unusual cheerfulness.

In the end, I am still a bit leery of people- fifteen years of detachment will do that to you- but I no longer hide in my palace or on my island. I am called upon every once in a while to battle Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik whom I still have a bone to pick with. And make no mistake, I still guard the sacred emeralds with more determination than ever before. So until we meet again, I am still and always will be the Guardian of the Master Emerald.

…But you can call me Knuckles.

END


End file.
